Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 15, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following:“(d) excluding for consideration under this section any conviction covered by the terms of the Good Friday Agreement 1998;”.

I have raised this with the Minister of State on numerous occasions. The amendment concerns the Good Friday Agreement and ex-prisoners. I have made the point many times and have provided the Minister of State with legal advice. I also pointed to a court case in the north of our country where the judge clearly ruled that a person could not be barred on the basis of a conviction and being an ex-prisoner under the Good Friday Agreement. We raised this point in the Dáil and the Seanad time out of number. I gave the Minister of State a document on this. The Minister of State keeps telling me he has legal advice that he cannot do that but there is nothing to preclude us from doing it. The Minister of State talked about spent convictions and how the matter can be raised under that legislation but we do not have to do so. The measure could be included in a single paragraph in this Bill stating that people are exempt. I do not have a problem with it if people were convicted after 1988 and were involved in serious crime but there are serious repercussions for many families across this island. Many ex-republicans and ex-prisoners are involved in the taxi industry. The Government, the Labour Party and Fine Gael signed up to the Good Friday Agreement and all it entailed. I see no reason the Minister of State cannot include a clause that would protect these people.

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